A few days ago, I wondered how John Kerry could respond when attacked for criticizing the war in Iraq. No matter how obvious it becomes that Saddam Hussein was no threat to America or even to his neighbors, the warmongers always respond, "Kerry thinks we should have left Saddam Hussein in power."

In the above-linked article, Slate's William Saletan arrogantly "translates Kerry to English" to explain the candidate's Iraq position, which has been perfectly clear for months - just not in sound bites, so the US media has no idea how to report it. But while reading it, it finally dawned on me how to respond to "Should we have left Saddam Hussein in power?" Try this:

I still carry shrapnel in my left thigh from a wound I received in Vietnam. It's still there because the doctors determined that making a larger cut to remove it would be worse than leaving it in place. I would be better off if it wasn't there, but it's not worth the risk to remove it. And that's how it was with Saddam Hussein and Iraq.

At least Kerry is finally using the word "incompetence" to describe the administration's Iraq policy, and it's about time.